Man and eagle soar over the French Alps

 

Have a look at the video below. If you love birds, flying or mountains, it's impossible not to be moved.

It's a report from France 2 television on a flight last Friday by Sherkan, an American bald eagle from the summit of Mont Blanc, Europe's higest mountain.  The eagle, which has a two-metre (6'6") wingspan, flew with Jacques-Olivier Travers, a professional falconer. He specialises in teaching flight to big birds born in captivity.

Travers, who runs the Eagles of Leman park on Lake Geneva had been training Sherkan, a 14-year-old bird born in Germany, the art of aviation for the past 18 months. When he was ready, he took him by helicopter along with paraglider pilots to the top of the mountain, which is at 4,800 metres (15,800 feet) altitude. The result was this film, shot partly from the escorting paragliders, of Sherkan making the 40-minute flight down to the Chamonix valley over 12,000 feel below. The thin air at altitude meant that the bird tired quickly and came back to his instructor mid-air to rest. He enjoyed himself more in the lower air, Travers says on the video.  [Thanks, Dot King, for posting the link yesterday]    

Jacques-Olivier Travers

Comments

[dot king]

"Thanks, Dot King, for posting the link yesterday"

Charles - je vous en prie - thanks for making it into a blog piece so that more people will see it.

Whilst seeking it out to post, I came across another film, less good (IMO) and longer, from Direct 8 TV, film of a training flight earlier this year in June, in which Olivier Travers said he took up paragliding only in order fly with an eagle - he'd had no particular wish to paraglide before acquiring this wonderful bird who'd never known free flight.
He also says that other falconers have flown with eagles, but ones they have raised from chicks so the bird in flight follows the paraglider as though it were its parent. But he has taken a bird that has never flown free and taught it to fly.
It's the sort of thing I can watch and watch and watch . . .

[rocket]

Absolutely spectacular!!!! I've got some great video that I took out of an airplane two weeks ago over the alps on a return from Venice. I'll try to get them up this week for people to enjoy

[azloon]

interesting.

this guy is practicing what would be an illegal activity in the u.s., bald eagle falconry.

i wonder the origin of the german-born bald eagle. it must have come from some country other than the u.s., where ownership is limited to educational institutions and then only if the bird is injured, and export is illegal. or this guy is a scofflaw.

sorry to put a damper on this interesting video, but this guy is messing around with the national symbol of the united states, a bird meant to roam in freedom. watching this video is a little sickening for this american. not quite like flag burning, but maybe using the flag for a tablecloth.

From wikipedia:

In captivity

Permits are required to keep Bald Eagles in captivity in the United States. Permits are primarily issued to public educational institutions, and the eagles which they show are permanently injured individuals which cannot be released to the wild. The facilities where eagles are kept must be equipped with adequate caging and facilities, as well as workers experienced in the handling and care of eagles. Bald Eagles cannot legally be kept for falconry in the United States. As a rule, the Bald Eagle is a poor choice for public shows, being timid, prone to becoming highly stressed, and unpredictable in nature. Native American Tribes can obtain a "Native American Religious Use" permit to keep non-releasable eagles as well. They use their naturally molted feathers for religious and cultural ceremonies. The Bald Eagle can be long-lived in captivity if well cared for, but does not breed well even under the best conditions.[34] In Canada, a license is required to keep Bald Eagles for falconry.

cheers

[I was wondering how long it would take for an American to point out that the US prohibits training bald eagles, that this video is ofensive and that the bald eagle is the symbol of the United States. It's not illegal in France or Germany, where the bird was born in captivity. Shows are fairly common. CB]

[azloon]

you can count on me, CB. :)

my reaction is not so nationalistic as it is a profound appreciation for this beautiful creature, which is, as it should be, a symbol of freedom, not just for americans but for many humans. it just happens to be native to north america (any feeling for this, Maggie?)

i have the same reaction to falconry as i do to Sigfried and Roy (both europeans) with their Las Vegas tiger-taming show. as you probably know, one of the tigers took care of my objection by turning one of them into lunch a year or so ago (no tears shed over here).

it may be ominous that this piece appears on the same day that the u.s. government takes compulsory ownership stakes in its' banks, following the european model, no less.

is the apocalypse upon us?

jonathon livingston loon

:)

[azloon]

btw, CB, you said this american eagle was born in european captivity, but not whether or not any of its progenitors were illegally removed from the u.s. or canada. i am quite sure if they were, the offense has long since been covered up. and even you, skilled journalistic sleuth that your are, would have trouble tracking down the truth of the matter. i promise not to send this item on the Drudge Report.

[Very funny. But the eagle would seem to have German nationality, so maybe he is not so interesting to Drudge as a Gallic eagle. CB]

[dot king]

What a pity Azloon can't understand French well enough to go on to the link Charles provides to Eagles of Leman (in blue in the article) and understand anything.
There are some wonderful pictures of this man and his eagle, including some taken on a visit to one of the USA war-graves sites. And a long interview to listen to with a sports commentator about teaching a captive bird that has never flown to fly.
Jacques-Olivier Travers has freed this bird. Perhaps our holier-than-thou over-sensitive ami americain would rather this bird lived out its life in a cage, on display only, rather than flying?

It's not a national symbol in this context, it's a wonderful living creature, and bald eagles certainly existed before the USA who adopted the bird's image to be their national symbol - they own the symbol (is there copyright?), not the creature.

Bird doesn't look stressed to me, looks like one contented eagle - whatever its "nationality". I wonder what it says on its passport?
In the news report in the link it does say that depending on weather conditions, sometimes they land "côté Suisse" or "côté Italie".
and if the bird doesn't want to fly, it doesn't, it goes straight back to its box and waits for them to land.

Strangely enough, I never imagined for one second that anyone might complain about this wonderful achievement - the whole thing.
Quel rabat-joie.

[dot king]

"but not whether or not any of its progenitors were illegally removed from the u.s. or canada. i am quite sure if they were, the offense has long since been covered up".

Azloon

Zoos do exchanges of species, legally, like it or not (USA ones too), the German animal park where Sherkan was hatched probably had the bird legally probably from another zoo. There are bald eagles all over Europe, some of them lucky enough to be flying. DEAL WITH IT!

You don't OWN Nature. You see a freed eagle fly and all you find is something else to French-bash about.

[Joan Arles]

Come on, Azloon, are you being serious? It's a wonderful video showing man and bird in flight together. The French commentary says they have a complicity. It looks like that to me. This guy teaches birds to fly when they do not know how to fly because they were born in captivity. It's not like a circus animal performing a stupid trick. But as an American, I can see that our rouge-cou compatriots might not appreciate a Frenchman training a noble American eagle.

[Pierre]

Wonderful. I wish I were there...

[qwerty]

I saw the video when it was shown on TV. If I recollect well, the eagle was taken out of captivity in Germany where he had never been taught to fly, and his French owner is preparing him for freedom. Hopefully he won't completely let him go, because he wouldn't stand a chance....

[qwerty]

suite: non mais franchement, ces Américains ramènent toujours tout à eux! Un aigle! and they complain that the French are franco-centric!

[Maggie]

Hi Azloon,

I just got back from California this afternoon and am a bit jet-lagged, so maybe that is why I didn't feel the same reaction as you. I was actually rather impressed to see the complicity between the eagle and the man, and then surprised that it would take so long to teach an eagle to fly.

Also I was thinking maybe the man should be wearing goggles to protect his eyes, because an eagle is still an eagle, and his natural wild instincts must still be there.

I think it would be good if they could provide a mate for the eagle.

Sorry not to back you up more than this, Azloon. But then Rocket didn't seem to find it offensive either.

Of course if it was a beaver he was training to fly, I might feel quite a bit differently....

[azloon]

Joan --

i'm not rouge cou, at least the last time i checked. and yes, i am, at least, a bit serious. seriously serious? ready to take the issue to the Hague? no. but i don't like to see great birds of prey in captivity, which is aggravated by my sensitivity on the subject of our national symbol (the two are related).

i think Dot didn't read my post. the great american bald eagle, a distinct species, is native to north america. there are NONE in europe by choice. i propose that europe use its own bald eagles for falconry and leave ours, which happen to be our national symbol, alone (i am quite certain that a european head of state would not take a american president to a demonstration of falconry featuring the american bald eagle).

[Bird doesn't look stressed to me, looks like one contented eagle] Dot

hilarious observation. i assume you've heard of the stockholm syndrome. :)

FREE SHERKAN!!!. FREE SHERKAN!!!....FREE SHERKAN!!!

[Maggie]

(PS Azloon -- or a Canada Gooose)

[azloon]

[Sorry not to back you up more than this, Azloon. But then Rocket didn't seem to find it offensive either] Maggie

not really looking for support, Maggie. i was just interested in your take since Canada is the only other country on earth home to the great american bald eagle. i do know that Canada has strict regulations about handling american bald eagles, and their private use/export, tho for symbolic reasons, not as restrictive as those here.

loons, state symbol of minnesota, are similarly protected. as a 'spirit' loon myself, i appreciate this concern for my feathered friends. europe i, suspect,, centuries ago lost its sense of wilderness and wildness, so some here have a hard time even understanding my point of view, much less agreeing with it.

Rocket, i'm afraid, must be overwhelmed with the current financial crisis, trying to figure out whether or not his native country is still capitalistic. so he may have 'bigger fish to fry.'

les pauvres Republicans !! :)

[Maggie]

Azloon,

I don't actually know much about falconry. Do you mean that this guy keeps the eagle chained to a little stand with a hood over its head most of the day?

If that is the case, you have made a very good point. I was just looking at the interesting news report without considering any of the underlying background.

What I don't understand is why eagles born in captivity don't learn to fly. Is it because there isn't enough space for them? Because falcons raised in captivity learn to fly, don't they? Where do they find the space for captive falcons to learn to fly?

Do captive falcons tire easily too? Is that the reason they keep them chained up -- so they will be relatively feeble from lack of exercise, and tire quickly, so not be tempted to escape?

I don't know about the Europeans, but I do know that the British care very much about wild birds. I have some interesting clippings here cut from the Times in 1994:

"Crack Troops Safeguard Rare Birds' Eggs"
(picture - "Camouflaged soldiers keep a discreet eye on the nests of the endangered Red Kite.")

"...Lieutenant A Thorburn of the Royal Artillary, the officer in charge of this year's operation, said the regular and Territorial Army troops watching over the kites nests had endured "atrocious" weather. The troops protecting the Kites each spent a week on duty, regularly moving both their concealed and visible observation posts to deter possible nest raiders....

"It was a demanding operation, in that it called for the troops to maintain constant alertness even during periods of apparent boredom. ..."

Another one:

"SAS Put Osprey Nest Robbers to Flight"
"SAS patrols guarding the nests of Scotland's osprey population have prevented any eggs being stolen for the first time in years, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reported.

"The SAS uses remote parts of the Highlands for training and offered 24-hour protection after conservationists said that raids by egg collectors were threatening the upturn in numbers of the rare bird of prey...."

"Falcon Thief in DNA Case Jailed" "A bird fancier who raided nests to steal rare falcons before selling them to breeders was jailed for 18 months yesterday. Derek C. told police he bred the falcons himself from a pair that he owned legally, but DNA tests proved none of the birds were related...."
____________

"Eleven thousand wild birds' eggs were seized from addresses in England and Wales yesterday in the biggest police operation of its kind. The eggs included those of the golden eagle, peregrine falcon and osprey...."

One more:

"Man Held in Egg Thefts" "Undercover wildlife agents have caught an American poaching eggs worth $30,000 from the nests of Manitoba migratory birds.

"Reacting from a tip, officers from the Department of Natural Resources and the RCMP followed and videotaped a 25-year-old Minnesota man over the last two months on separate trips to Manitoba and Saskatchewan. A total of 90 merganser eggs worth an estimated $30,000 were taken.

"We had some good intelligence information that allowed us to carry out what you might call a textbook surveillance operation," said Dave P, head of the province's anti-poaching special investigations unit.....

"He was very experienced because he knew exactly where to go and exactly what he wanted.....The man took the eggs back to Minnesota , sold some of them and incubated others until they hatched...."

So you see, Azloon, maybe you were right to make a fuss. There could be a lot more behind this story than any of us thought about.

[Greg]

As a birder and journalist, I wonder why on earth we should be interested in, and celebrating, experiments with a captive bird of prey that is not even native to Europe. This is a stunt and in no way newsworthy.

[John O'Donnell]

Azloon,
How about a trade? There are plenty of US-origin Grey(Gray) Squirrels over here in Europe which you can take back anytime you like.
They're bigger, more aggressive and tend to win turf wars with their more delicate, cuter European native cousins, Red Squirrels.

[valerie]

I ditto the other Americans here who find nothing offensive about this story. It's a bird, for pete's sake. I am glad someone is taking care of it, but not for any reason having to do with the fact that we use this species of eagle as our symbol. It's a glorious animal and there aren't that many out there. In the States, of course, we would never want to see a wild eagle captive, but this one is obviously NOT wild.

Someone must have thought it would be cool to have one and, when it got big, realized that it was too much to handle. At least they didn't kill it.

[azloon]

jeez, Valerie, what a downer!

Greg, ok, i'm not the only one a bit offended by the 'stunt.' thanks for weighing in.

John O'Donnell -- i apologize on behalf of them american people for your squirrel problem. but i don't think there's much of a possibility of americans wanting them back to train them. what? to fly? to fetch the newspaper? is there a country whose national symbol is the squirrel? they might take them.

i was bit by one of the grey, bushy ones when i was seven, and had to have a series of painful tetanus shots. so i won't be asking for one. up to that point, i had considered it a sort of wild pet, and actually had a name for it.

Maggie, yes, i am aware of the Brits love of animals in general, and birds by inclusion. there are many brits in the u.s. who embrace our wilderness ethos and would probably understand the point i was trying to make. canadians too.

[Pierre]

Nothing to do with gallic handling of american eagles, however I found this preview about a film "coming out soon" wich location, if not issue, might interest Mr. Bremner.

http://www.nosenfantsnousaccuseront-lefilm.com/

[dot king]

here's one for the hidden agenda peeking from behind its cloak on this thread

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=iCVmKN5At_o

[dot king]

I take it as read, of course, that there are no Chinese pandas, nor Australian koalas, nor Bengal tigers, nor African lions, gazelles, giraffes, zebras, rhinos, hippos etc, not to mention whales, dolphins, whatever in "captivity" conditions in either USA or Canada.

[Gregory]

Beautuful to see captive birds being introduced to flight. Excellent video.
The point is that the beast's being acclimatised, not that it's being forced to live out it's days in a dungeon.

"europe i, suspect,, centuries ago lost its sense of wilderness and wildness, so some here have a hard time even understanding my point of view, much less agreeing with it"

we need to learn more about ecology and how to be at one with nature from our morally superior north American brethern. Ha!

[Fernandez]

Dot -

Just yesterday I took a Chinese Panda up and tried to teach it to fly. No success, unfortunately.

Then I went to KFC for lunch. Take that French cockerel!

P.S. I'm with Azloon on this one (and I agree with him about Siegfried and Roy, too). The Bald Eagle is still a threatened species (upgraded from endangered just a few years ago) and mates for life. It's sad to see them in captivity.

[azloon]

Dot, you didn't mention white tigers (from siberia?).

Sigfried and Roy, from germany (now naturalized americans) who began their career as animal smugglers (an ocelot taken from the bremen zoo), ended up as two of the most highly-paid entertainers in the u.s. doing a widely-acclaimed act in las vegas.

Roy, after a near-death experience which occurred when one of his trained tigers, Montecore, bit him in the neck, during the act, is now severely handicapped.

i suppose, Dot, you would have looked at this tiger and determined that he/she looked quite content, happy to be living in las vegas, a city that many humans can not tolerate.

there was a lot of conjecture about what caused this Montecore to strike. steve wynn, owner of the casino where this occurred, said:

"there was a woman with a "big hairdo" in the front row who "fascinated and distracted" Montecore."

please, all you women, no big hairdos.

[Monika]

§§§sorry to put a damper on this interesting video, but this guy is messing around with the national symbol of the united states, a bird meant to roam in freedom. watching this video is a little sickening for this american. not quite like flag burning, but maybe using the flag for a tablecloth.§§§

No more noble maple trees in parks or gardens because it insults the Canadian symbol ;)

FREEDOM FOR ALL MAPLE TREES!!!

(couldn't resist here though generally I think captivity is not a good place for any animal if national symbol or not).

[Maggie]

FREEDOM FOR ALL MAPLE TREES!!! (Monika)

You're right, Monika, the maple tree is a symbol of Canada, but it's our vegetation symbol. The one you want for this discussion (to go with the eagle) is our animal symbol, the beaver.

I can't resist either. Here are some verses about beavers, from our poem game. The words that had to be used were BEAVER, ABDOMEN and APOLOGIZE.

The first two are by my brother Peter (hope they're not too gruesome for you, Azloon), the third one is mine, and the fourth one is by Clever Dick.

You APOLOGIZE for wearing that BEAVER-skin coat!
To make it they slit him from ABDOMEN to throat!

The number one cause of a BEAVER's demise
Is being squashed by his own falling trees;
For this graphic description I APOLOGIZE
But it pushes his ABDOMEN down through his knees.

"I've a pain in my ABDOMEN," said the lazy BEAVER,
"In fact, I think I've got a fever."
His mother cried, "APOLOGIZE!
You can't fool ME with silly lies!
Get up! Get outof bed! Now scram!
Go out and help construct the dam!"

They call me an eager BEAVER,
Ever quick to flirt with Eva;
Now her ABDOMEN is quite a size
And for this I must APOLOGIZE.

[Jack D]

It's a great video and should be appreciated for what it is. I know a hell of a lot of yanks who wouldn't care this bird is in captivity and would just be glad it's being well cared for. I guess we should close down seaworld in florida as it's so offensive to keep such wonderful creatures in captivity. Perhaps you'd like to share the times you've protested that little "atrocity" .... hmmmm, thought not. Now get off you high horses and go do something constructive rather than be hypocritical on the board !! And yes I live in the US and couldn't care less.

[Dodo]

MONIKA "FREEDOM FOR ALL MAPLE TREES!!!"

Yes !

FREEDOM also for all the ROOSTER !

I was told the US lack of respect for our Gallic Rooster is such that, believe it or not, they have a dish called "Cocovein" or something like....

[Blendi Progri]

AZLOON

[interesting.

this guy is practicing what would be an illegal activity in the u.s., bald eagle falconry.

i wonder the origin of the german-born bald eagle. it must have come from some country other than the u.s., where ownership is limited to educational institutions and then only if the bird is injured, and export is illegal. or this guy is a scofflaw.

sorry to put a damper on this interesting video, but this guy is messing around with the national symbol of the united states, a bird meant to roam in freedom. watching this video is a little sickening for this american. not quite like flag burning, but maybe using the flag for a tablecloth.]

Great point, I think it seems unnatural and exploitative. Taking kudos for 'training an eagle' to fly on camera seems cruel to me. This is the angle needed in group discussion; the easiest thing is to go wow. What is it about Man, the moment it trains/helps/connects with an animal the urge to show off overpowers him?

More often than not, the animal has lost from the supossed genorosity and love of the Man.

I have an interest in eagles from a long time, when I was 12 years old my dad returned from an expedition and brought home a giant eagle, shot dead by a single bullet. Surely it was shot by an illegal hunter and later we both went to send the eagle to the biology museum. A great specimen still can remember it like yesterday. I have yet to be touched by seeing an animal, alive or dead, as when I saw that eagle from many years back.
Afraid that we don’t treat eagles well, the symbol of freedom and grace, lets let them fly in peace and stick to the gliders by ourselves.

--

Az- BTW- when I learned that you were a 'journalist coming from a family of journalists' I was a tad disappointed... always thought that 'arguing a good argument in an argumentative way' comes naturally to you. … ;)

[azloon]

Monika - 'reductio ad absurdum' is the style of logical argument you use when you equate my arguments/feelings about imprisoned animals with, well shall we just say, less sentient forms of life, i.e. maple trees.

btw, i love trees too. i have a streak of johnny appleseed in me, and have planted dozens of trees wherever i've lived.

but i have never taken a chain saw to an animal, while i have, hundreds of times used one on beautiful trees which for one reason or another needed to be felled, or trimmed.

and i approve of hunting too, but only for purpose of gathering human food. fishing too.

so i guess you could say i am in the philosophical camp of "either eat them or let them roam free." i sense you have some sympathy for this position, at least the 'roam free' part. :)

[azloon]

i come before you
abdo-women and -men
as fevered as a beaver
to speak about the eagle's size
now soaring low and then to highs
not having to apologize
for cellulite between her thighs
or mice she eats with sides of flies
then back again to nests of sticks,
the mister and the chirping chicks
the tv on, the place a mess,
what's he done all day
he won't confess
that eagle eye he shoots her way
enough to make her want to say
as eagles go you've got it made
it may be time for friendly palavers
with a falconer i know named
miss-your Travers

[Pierre B]

Whether France under Napoleon, Rome, Germany at birth or the US, the eagle has always been chosen as an emblem by militaristic societies. Not like the lion and the unicorn, which by their whimsical nature, give the world a lesson in how not to take yourself too seriously. Or better still, put a dragon on your flag! That's sure to confuse them!

Personally, I'm glad to be represented by a woman, Marianne,

Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité.

[Maggie]

Hey Azloon, it's terrific! except I don't get the last line, about Travers. Sorry to be so clued-out.
Could you explain it to me? I googled Travers and got a horse race and a movie critic.

Oh! I get it! It's the name of the guy in the video, who taught the eagle to fly!
Monsieur Travers!

Hey, great poem!

[dot king]

"It's a great video and should be appreciated for what it is. I know a hell of a lot of yanks who wouldn't care this bird is in captivity and would just be glad it's being well cared for. I guess we should close down seaworld in florida as it's so offensive to keep such wonderful creatures in captivity. Perhaps you'd like to share the times you've protested that little "atrocity" .... hmmmm, thought not. Now get off you high horses and go do something constructive rather than be hypocritical on the board !!"

Precisely, Jack D - there is a lot of provocation going on which has nothing to do with the eagle.

Why are North Americans in general (as shown on this blog at least) so jealous and possessive and narrow-minded about this?

This bird is NOT your national symbol, the image of its like is your national symbol - not the same thing at all.

It had NEVER FLOWN before this man "rescued" it and taught it to fly.

What a mean-spirited lot you are.

[azloon]

Blendi, yeah, you get it.

Oh Dot, shush !!

[dot king]

Oh Dot, shush !!

azloon

The day you stop dissembling, then maybe . . . :)

[qwerty]

Pierre B.: not forgetting the Nazis who used the eagle combined with the swastika.

[globalamerican]

Pay no attention to the americans. they are just used to being incited by their fellow countrymen. youd get the same reaction if you left the toilet seat up.

[Roger Goodacre]

Maybe if the bald American mates with a 'European' eagle, in the absence of any other baldies, it'll find a cure for baldness..

[Fernandez]

It's is a bit bizarre that the same group of people who were outraged by a domestic animal (bull) killed in the ring (after a wonderful life of roaming free) are the same ones defending a lifetime of captivity and trained falconry for a wild animal that otherwise could be rehabilited and set free.

(And, yes, I am appalled at the use of orcas in a tiny aquarium at Seaworld.)

[A bit confused there, Fernandez... Nobody's killing or torturing the eagles -- like bulls. They were born in captivity and are being trained to fly with the aim of releasing them into the wild when they can handle it. CB]

[azloon]

CB

you need to tell us alot more about this Travers guy if you're trying to talk us out of our reaction. falconers are not in the business of releasing their quarry into the wild, i don't believe. is this guy different? does he specialize in finding injured in the wild, then rehabilitating them for release back into nature? it doesn't sound like it.

some of us are offended by these hobbies.

being 'born into captivity' doesn't excuse this. it just means the bird was born because its forebears were taken captive.

i think we'll to agree to disagree. you think it's fine. i don't, and maybe others (MF?) as well.

[qwerty]

Nobody's killing or torturing the eagles -- like bulls. They were born in captivity and are being trained to fly with the aim of releasing them into the wild when they can handle it. CB

That's what I had figured. The story would be different if this guy Travers had captured the bird. The eagle was born in captivity or had been captured by some other unspeakable person (do you know that the capture and trafficking of wild animals, in $$$, ranks close to weapon trafficking?).

Travers, as I gather, wants to reintroduce the eagle into the wild. Laudable intention, will it be successful? Look at all the attempts to put orcas back to sea: usually ends in death.

Would it have been better, according to Azloon, to leave the eagle to its initial fate, i.e. full captivity?

[dot king]

MARY, AZLOON, as intelligent people, surely you must KNOW FULL WELL that zoos and animal parks all over the world exchange species. They do this in order to prevent inbreeding and to help keep in existence endangered species.
There is every chance that Sherkan, when s/he was no more than an egg was transferred to the German animal park to be hatched. your suggestions that Sherkan was somehow stolen from the USA is frankly laughable.
Your foray into the bullfighting argument is equally laughable.

At the end of the film, the reporter says that JO Travers hopes to carry on teaching birds, which are meant to fly but often don't if they are born in captivity, to fly, and maybe to be returned to the wild. It's there in the report. You maybe just can't understand it.

If you can't feel any pleasure in seeing this magnificent bird fly freely from the top of Mont Blanc and its complicity with the man who enabled it to fly, then frankly, I pity you.

[azloon]

Dot, read my goddam posts.

you so dense, it's incroyable!

[dot king]

Dot, read my goddam posts.

you so dense, it's incroyable!

AZLOON

You think I didn't read them? You're so dumb-witted it's unbelieveable!

BTW I also read every word of every post and every word of the blog piece, saw the film the first time it was shown on TV, read every word of all the links I came across whilst looking for it to post here, and every word of the links Charles published above that I hadn't already seen.
Can you say as much?
I doubt it.
Despite your aversion to horses, you got straight on the highest one you could find.

I think you would end with "cheers" at this point . . .

cheers

[Fernandez]

Charles -

If Travers is trying to release the animal into the wild, then I applaud him, though I don't think releasing Sherkan was the goal. Training him with 'falconry' is another matter.

I don't want to revisit the whole bullfighting blog, but surely one can see the difference between a wild animal meant to be wild and a domestic animal meant for consumption. In this case, we have a wild animal treated like a pet and a domestic animal treated like a wild one until the date of its eventual slaughter.

I'll leave you with a poem:

"Sympathy"

I know what the caged bird feels.
Ah me, when the sun is bright on the upland slopes,
when the wind blows soft through the springing grass
and the river floats like a sheet of glass,
when the first bird sings and the first bud ops,
and the faint perfume from its chalice steals.
I know what the caged bird feels.

I know why the caged bird beats his wing
till its blood is red on the cruel bars,
for he must fly back to his perch and cling
when he fain would be on the bow aswing.
And the blood still throbs in the old, old scars
and they pulse again with a keener sting.
I know why he beats his wing.

I know why the caged bird sings
It beats its bars and would be free.
It's not a carol of joy or glee,
but a prayer that it sends from its heart's deep core,
a plea that upward to heaven it flings.
I know why the caged bird sings.

Paul Laurence Dunbar, 1896. (He was the son of a slave).

[Fernandez]

Dot -

Who said the egg was 'stolen'?!

The 'modern' theory behind zoos is the preservation of species. If an animal can't be released or if, being released, it was going to be slaughtered by poachers, that's one thing. Keeping a wild animal as a pet or for circus-like amusement is another. I'm not offended as much as saddened.

I'm with Azloon, read his posts.

[Maggie]

"Keeping a wild animal as a pet or for circus-like amusement is another thing." (MF)

Good point, but I am wondering if falconry falls into either or neither or both of these categories.

It seems to me that 'falcons' are kind of "working pets". They are used for hunting, but I guess it is more for sport than for nourishment. This 'sport' has existed since antiquity, and was originally reserved for kings.

I googled 'falconry' and see that they are also sometimes used in airports to reduce the number of gulls cluttering up the runways, and by city halls to control the pigeon population.

Also, Mr Travers' centre seems mainly designed to educate the public -- to allow people to see these birds in action in order to develop an appreciation for nature and conservation. But the wolf tricks do seem a little "circus"y.

What I still don't understand is why these birds raised in captivity can't fly. If the purpose of breeding captive birds is to prevent the necessity of continually raiding wild nests, then surely they should be able to fly, or what would be the point of breeding them? Falconry requires birds that FLY.

The whole things doesn't seem to make sense. They breed captive birds so they don't have to keep raiding nests, but the birds born in captivity don't learn to fly, so now they are taking them out and teaching them to fly so they can be released back to nature?